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The Close Visit Of King Harald V And Queen Sonya Of Norway To Croatia Has Lifted The Profile Of Development Plans To Turn Land Near Sucuraj, On The Eastern Tip Of Hvar Island, Into A Resort Rivaling Cannes

An imminent royal visit to Croatia from the King and Queen of Norway illuminates the development on eastern Hvar near Sucuraj, promoted as the new Cannes. The royal couple are due on an official visit to Zagreb and the seaside town of Sibenik on May 12-13, accompanied by 100 Norwegian businessmen, who are looking into investment opportunities in the former-Yugoslav republic as reported suite101.com.

Croatia is becoming more popular as a holiday destination. Interested in purchasing a place on an Croatian island, apartment in a quiet Dalmatian town, commercial property in Dalmatia or land plot for a larger investment? According to the Law of Croatia real estate, foreign citizens and enterprises can be owners of property in all the teritory of Republic Croatia (Istria, Kvarner, Dalmatia, Continental Croatia, and all Croatian islands).

Croatian property enquiries for the winter period of 2010 to 2011 are up from the year before. They are still a long way from pre crisis levels but a major rise never the less. Exchange volumes are still low but the number of sales converted is rising and backers who’ve been showing interest over the last 12 months are beginning to commit. With improving business conditions internationally and a signs that confidence is returning in Europe, all be it slowly and carefully, it might seem the trend should continue in 2011.

One thing’s for sure, Croatian real-estate agents are truly working for their commission. This is no bad thing. It has reduced the number of players in the market considerably. It has raised the standards as purchasers ask considerably more questions, and in general look far more closely at value. This has forced Croatian real-estate agents to be more competent, informed and armed with reasoned debates rather than the standard sales patter. It in addition has helped regulate the Croatian property market better as prices paid are practical. There aren’t any men with black brief cases sneaking round the corner prepared to pay 5 times more than the property is actually worth. Those times are well behind us and happily so.

Pricewise, without regard for reports of falls of between 5% and 10%, in reality Croatian property prices have fallen more like 20% to 30%. The reason for the irregularity is due to publicized and exact sales values. This is especially true for properties in Croatia coastal locations where lots of the property is acquired by foreigners and where exchange volumes are so low that data is limited, so much so it is difficult to evaluate. Similarly the existing system of monitoring Croatian property prices is fairly ineffective due to a absence of accurate data. The main source of info is that of the tax office, where contractual prices of Croatian property sold are registered. But the practice of manipulating contractual prices for tax purposes is still common in Croatia making available info unreliable.

In the seaside locations, foreign property owners are much more inclined to drop prices. Many of them have experience similar price falls in their domestic marketplaces and have quickly become used to the concept that property is worth less than it used to be and that prices are relative. For instance a significant number of foreign owners have sold property in Croatia, to use declining prices at home, preferring to reinvest regionally. We see this trend continuing through 2011.

When thinking about the Croatian property market direction for 2011, it’s also vital to take a look at Croatia’s economic and political situation. Now Croatia is going thru its own crisis of confidence, not least with the economy. However , considering the state of many of the other peripheral EU economies as well as it’s comparative size, Croatia is not alone. It is certainly no worse than Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and possibly Belgium and is probably better in many instances. The country definitely has not been bailed out by the European Union or World Financial Fund yet Also, as the EU is attempting to introduce a rather more strategic and coordinated industrial policy approach, Croatia, shortly to be an affiliate, should benefit.

Furthermore Croatia is tackling the issue of corruption head on. there were numerous high-profile arrests including the arrest of Ivo Sanader the former P. M. , as well as a considerable number of his ex ministers and it seems like this is just the start . With the press now having free reign in the democratic process stories of new executive officials and their mysterious wealth are hitting the news on a constant basis. It might appear that Croatia is somewhat unique with respect to its open attempts to tackle corruption. Born by it’s need and drive to join the EU Union Croatia, unlike Romania and Bulgaria, as well as some of the more established countries of the EU, has needed to be brave and handle this tricky problem upfront of Croatia ECU Advent.

This has obviously caused some negative sentiment from foreign investors short term. But then financiers are being cautious for a similar reasons they are wary just about everywhere in Europe currently. We only actually see this changing once the banks begin to lend again bringing with it a change in sentiment. This is especially the case for the second houses market. Nevertheless medium to long-term, and more distinctively after Croatia joins the ECU end of 2012, things will improve.

How does this affect the Croatia property market? Short term we expect there to be continued downward pressure on real-estate prices in Croatia, but with exchange volumes rising as buyers and investors look to take advantage of bargains as well as some solid Croatian property investing opportunities. This is correct for both the domestic and foreign buyers. Medium term we expect to see Croatia join the EU, however it has still to be seen how much of a repercussion on Croatian property prices it’ll have. There are two distinct possibilities, a modest and stable effect or an inflationary drive. It’ll principally rely on the EU itself and whether it is able to resolve it’s own issues and mend confidence in its own ability to manage and unify it’s members on the essential money regulation in order to prevent the same sovereign debt issues some of it’s members are at present facing, and more importantly the impact which has on it’s other members and the EU itself.